Artificial Intelligence, Alienates Students From Their Own Writing Skills
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence technologies in education has initiated a new era in how students prepare their assignments. According to a recent study conducted in Canada, 73% of college students use generative AI tools to support their academic work. Moreover, nearly half of these students state that they have made it a habit to turn to these digital assistants as a first resort when writing an essay. However, while educational institutions remain primarily focused on the issues of plagiarism and academic misconduct, a much deeper shift is occurring in the background, altering students’ identity and unique vocabulary.
A two-year academic study conducted at the University of Toronto directly demonstrated the effects of artificial intelligence on students’ writing skills. Students participating in the research noticed that when they used AI to edit their texts and make them more professional, the writing sounded much more ‘‘strong and flawless’’. Yet, this smoothing process caused the personal touches and the students’ own unique voice to disappear. Students expressed the feeling that these polished, successful texts did not actually belong to them and failed to reflect their true identities.
This situation indicates that AI-assisted writing has begun to cause a distinct sense of unease among students. While artificial intelligence models rephrase words according to academic standards and smooth out sentences, they strip individuals of the opportunity to learn through trial and error and develop their own style during the writing process. Experts point out that this situation creates a new dilemma in education. Consequently, flawless but homogenized texts generated with the help of AI not only weaken students’ sense of ownership over their own work but also challenge the boundaries of personal creativity in the digital age.